The A-to-Z of Yeovil's History

by Bob Osborn

yeovil people

william lambert
white

Solicitor
and Banker

William Lambert
White was born
in 1767, the son
of William White
of Trowbridge,
Wiltshire
(1726-1810) and
Nelly née Mervyn
(1737-1816),
daughter and
co-heir of John
Mervin. In
1781 he was
indentured as an
articled clerk
to Ivan Vaughan
of Frome Selwood,
Somerset.

On 25 June 1789,
at the age of
22, he married
Anne Messiter
(1761-1852) at
Yeovil. She was
the daughter of
banker Moulten Messiter
Esq of Wincanton
and Mary née
Ring. They were
to have one
daughter,
Letitia, born in
1790.

William was an
attorney and
lived at
Pitney House
in
Kingston
(see map and
photograph
below) with
Anne and their
daughter
Letitia. The
Universal
British
Directory of
1791 listed
William Lambert
White as one of
the four Yeovil
solicitors, the
others being
Edmund Batten,
George Proctor
Upton and
Samuel Watts
the elder. The
London Gazette
reported that on
6 December 1791
"The Lord
Chancellor has
appointed
William Lambert
White, of
Yeovil, in the
county of
Somerset,
Gentleman, to be
a Master
Extraordinary in
the High Court
of Chancery". In
March 1793 the
Bath Chronicle
reported "Samuel
Bailward Esq, of
Horsington,
high-sheriff for
this county, has
appointed Mr WL
White, of
Yeovil, his
county clerk.

In
1819, in his
role as a
solicitor, he
gave evidence in
a Parliamentary
enquiry into the
dwellings
against the
churchyard wall
in
Silver Street. He was
listed as an
attorney and
also an agent
for Westminster
Life Fire
Insurance at
Kingston in
Pigot's
Directories of
1822, 1824 and
1830.

In 1794
William is known
to have been a
shareholder with
a £100
shareholding in
the
Somersetshire
Coal Canal. This
was a venture
promoted by the
mine owners of
the North
Somerset
coalfields as a
cheaper means of
transporting
coal to their
markets in Bath
and Wiltshire
since in
Somerset, before
canals were
built, the only
transport was by
pack-horse or
horse and cart,
which could only
cope with
limited
quantities and
resulted in high
prices. This
shareholding
would be the
equivalent to
over £120,000 at today's value.

William was a
prominent member
of the Yeovil
Freemason's
Lodge from the
1820s onwards,
being initiated
into the Lodge
of Brotherly
Love on 12
December 1826..

William became a
partner of
banker Henry
Whitmash. The
company was
known as
Whitmash &
White. When
Whitmash opened
up branch of his
bank in Yeovil
in 1808, it
became known as
the
Yeovil &
Wincanton Bank.
The bank printed
its own
banknotes in £1,
£5, and £20
denominations,
but only the £1
and £5 notes are
known to have
been issued. In
1835 the bank
was acquired by
Stuckey's
Banking Co,
but the trading
name was
retained until
1837.

William White
served as
a trustee
of the
Woborn Almshouse,
he was a member
of the
Vestryand became a
Town
Commissioner
in 1830, acting
as treasurer
until his death.
According to the
memorial tablet,
shown below, in
St John's church
he was for
"many years
Lieutenant
Colonel of the
East Somerset
Yeomanry
Cavalry" -
actually only
from 1825 until
it
was disbanded in
1828. He is
known to have
been a
Freemason in
Yeovil from this
time.

E Watts' map of
1806, shown
below, reveals
that William
owned almost the
whole of Penn
Hill from South
Street nearly
all the way to
Brunswick
Street. Watts'
later 1831 map,
also shown
below, reveals
that he owned
the land which
would later be
home to Yeovil
Town's football
ground and is
now occupied by
Tesco's store
and much of its
car park.

In 1831 there
were riots in
England when
Parliament
decided against
reform to give
Britain's
industrial
cities and towns
better
representation.
Many of the
solicitors in
Yeovil were
active
anti-Reformers
and had been
professional
election agents
of Lord Ashley.
Consequently
they were the
first to be
singled out by
an angry mob on
the night of
Friday, 21
October 1831, in
what was to
become known as
the
Yeovil Reform
Riot of 1831, who
attacked Pitney
House, the
home of William
Lambert White,
and also the
homes of
Edwin Newman,
Francis
Theophilus
Robins,
Edwin Tomkins
and
John Slade.

As a solicitor,
he was in
partnership with John Slade
but, as
indicated by a
notice placed in
the London
Gazette, William
terminated his
solicitor's
partnership with Slade in
1833 although he
remained with
his banking
concerns.
In 1834 he was
listed as a
subscriber to
William Hull’s
“History of the
Glove Trade”.

In the 1841
census
74-year-old
William and
80-year-old Anne
were living at
Kingston with
four servants.
Williams
occupation was
simply described
as of
independent
means. The
census also
revealed that he
was not born in
Somerset.

In the 1832 and
1834 Yeovil poll
books William
was listed by
virtue of owning
his freehold
house in
Kingston.
Perhaps
surprisingly in
the 1840 and
1841 poll books
for Weymouth,
Dorset, William
was listed as
entitled to vote
there as well by
virtue of owning
a freehold house
at Chapelhay
Steps, Weymouth,
even though he
lived in Yeovil.

William Lambert
White died on 17
April 1845 in
Yeovil. He was
aged 77. In the
1851 Census
Anne, by now
aged 89, was
living in
Kingston with
61-year-old
Leticia and her
77-year-old
brother-in-law,
William's
brother, James
White, of
Bruton. Anne
died on 20 March
1852 in Yeovil.

William Lambert
White's
signature
against the
Vestry minutes
of 29 December
1831.

map

E Watts' map of
Yeovil of 1806
showing the land
holdings of
William Lambert
White running
from
South Street
at top right,
nearly all the
way to
Addlewell Lane
at bottom left
and including
the bulk of Pen
Hill.

E Watts' later
map of Yeovil of
1831 shows
Pitney House,
Kingston, at top
right with his
name in the
large garden.
Also
The Field at lower
left of centre
accessed off
Hewish Lane
(today's Huish),
annotated with
his name would
later become
Yeovil's
football ground
with its famous
sloping pitch.
The field had,
in 1806,
belonged to the
Goodford family.
The site is now
occupied by
Tesco's store
and much of its
car park.

gallery

This photograph
dates to about
1875 and looks
north along
Kingston as seen
from just
outside what
would become
Bide's Gardens.
The impressive
five-bay
frontage of
William's home
and law
practice,
Pitney House,
is seen at
centre.

The
obverse and
reverse of a
five pound
note of the
Yeovil &
Wincanton
Bank
featuring a
drawing of
St John's
church. From
the period
1808 to
1835, at
which time
£5 would be
worth in
excess of
£300 at today's value. Notes
were printed
in £1, £5,
and £20
denominations,
but only the
£1 and £5
notes are
known to
have been
issued.

The memorial
tablet in St
John's church
erected to the
memory of
William Lambert
White, his wife
Anne and
daughter
Letitia.